Indiana Copyright Litigation: Hoosier Daddy’s Bar & Grill Accused of Copyright Infringement for Playing Jessie’s Girl and Other Songs

Indianapolis, Indiana – A copyright litigator for Plaintiffs Broadcast Music, Inc. (“BMI”) of New York, New York, as well as Sony/ATV Songs LLC d/b/a Sony/ATV Tree Publishing, Chinquapin Music, Boy Rocking Music, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., Del Sound Music, and Universal – Songs of Polygram International, Inc., brought a lawsuit in the Southern District of Indiana asserting copyright infringement.

Plaintiff BMI is a licensor of approximately 10.5 million copyrighted musical compositions. The remaining Plaintiffs own the copyrights to the musical compositions that are at issue in this Indiana lawsuit.

Defendants are Hoosier Daddy’s NCIN, LLC d/b/a Hoosier Daddy’s Bar & Grill and its president, Jeff Burchett of New Castle, Indiana. Plaintiffs state that Burchett is responsible for the operation and management of the business entity and the restaurant.

Plaintiffs contend that Hoosier Daddy committed four acts of copyright infringement by publically performing musical compositions without purchasing the proper license from BMI. They further state that Defendants were contacted more than 30 times “in an effort to educate Defendants as to their obligations under the Copyright Act with respect to the necessity of purchasing a license.” Plaintiffs assert that Defendants threaten to continue to commit copyright infringement and ask the court to rule that the infringement of the copyrights-in-suit was willful.

The following musical compositions, allegedly infringed on August 12, 2016, have been listed in this litigation:

Musical Composition	Registration and Date of Registration
Lying Here with Linda on My Mind	Ep 315410, August 17, 1973
Baby Likes to Rock It	PA 730-793, October 13, 1994
Bad to the Bone	PAu 363-194, November 30, 1981
Jessie’s Girl	PA 100-885, April 28, 1981 PA 124-280, November 20, 1981

Plaintiffs claim that they have suffered great and incalculable damage as a result of the alleged infringement by Defendants. They ask for equitable relief to enjoining Defendants from committing further acts of infringement. They also seek statutory damages pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §504(c) and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees.

The case was assigned to District Judge William T. Lawrence and Magistrate Judge Tim A. Baker in the Southern District of Indiana and assigned Case No. 1:16-cv-03022-WTL-TAB.

Complaint